Bill to crack down on illegal immigrants clears Louisiana House committee

A $10 million bill to crack down on illegal immigrants in the state cleared a Louisiana House committee Thursday, but its chief sponsor said it faces an uphill battle in the dwindling days of the annual legislative meeting.

File photoRep. Ernest Wooton, I-Belle Chasse

The Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations voted 5-3 to advance House Bill 411 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, I-Belle Chasse. The panel originally voted 4-4 to defer the bill, a move that would have killed it for the session.

The measure still has to go to the House Appropriations Committee, which must find the money to set up the program, to be administered by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

"The chances are slim but it's alive," Wooton said after a two-hour meeting that brought members of the Hispanic community out in force against the bill. "It is a matter of timing and money."

Rep. Greg Cromer, R-Slidell, was absent for the vote. Simon voted to defer the bill, but when that vote ended in a tie, he voted in favor of the measure, giving it the edge it needed to clear the committee.

Wooton said that his bill is not aimed at anyone "unless they are here illegally." He said his bill is designed to address a growing problem of illegal immigrants in the state because "Washington is doing less than nothing, in my opinion (to enforce immigration laws)."

Wooton conceded the bill will cost the state money to launch his "Louisiana Citizens Protection Act," but said those costs would be offset by savings in benefits now paid to illegal immigrants.

The bill would make it a crime to harbor or conceal an illegal immigrant, transport an illegal immigrant or attempt to hire an illegal immigrant.

The bill also would require businesses to use an independent verification system to check on the legal status of new hires. It also would bar a company or a public agency from entering into agreements to hire companies that may use illegal immigrants.

Susan Weishar, representing the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University, said the bill could "criminalize simple acts of charity" such as a person taking "an undocumented neighbor to the emergency room. How do we as a state benefit from undermining such acts of charity?"

Brian Blake, a representative of the Baton Rouge Police Union, said most police departments do not have the ability or equipment to determine when a suspect is in the nation legally or not.

"We would be in violation of the law" by not making the checks, he said. "It would direct law enforcement away from doing our (regular) jobs."

Large- and small-business lobbies also opposed the measure as a burden on their clients.

Rob Tasman, a lobbyist for the Roman Catholic bishops of the state, and Jacinta Gonzalez, representing the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, said that bills similar to Wooton's have become law in other states and later ruled unconstitutional.

Immigration issues are complex and "are preempted by federal law," Gonzalez said. "This will automatically get caught up in the legal system" and cost the state money.